Cap
Apart from some particular designs (the Pullman of Météore, the Asterope of Aurora and the Capless of Pilot) the cap remains one of the essential components of a fountain pen. The cap basically performs two functions, on the one hand it provides the protection of the nib against accidental bumps to the outside, on the other hand it protects the outside from accidental contact with the nib (and especially with the ink brought by the same) and from any leaks.
From a technical point of view, many inventions have been applied to the cap, almost always related to the way in which it can be opened or closed (interlocking, screw, snap, now also magnetic) and sometimes also to the way in which it can be inserted on the bottom of the pen to balance the weight or size of the same, as in the case of the Pilot Elite (but there are many precursors) in which for the use of the pen it was necessary to put the cap on it because this was a necessary extension of the body.
A second role played by the cap is to keep the environment around the nib well circumscribed, with the pen closed, so that the ink present on it does not dry out (causing a difficulty in restarting) on the one hand but does not even undergo pressure changes that can cause ink to escape. For this reason, there are both ventilated caps (with the presence of ventilation holes) and caps that are completely sealed. In particular, at the beginning of the 1900s, in order to guarantee against the loss of ink, the presence of a second inner cap began to be introduced as a constitutive part of many caps (significant patents nº US-764227 and nº US-1028382), which encloses the part on which the section is bent and isolates it from the rest of the cap, guaranteeing the seal of the ink. Sometimes this same element is also used as a locking component in the assembly of the clip, which can be mounted in a ring on the same, or wedged between the cap and inner cap by means of a lateral slot.
The cap is also often a characteristic element for the design and lines of a pen, and can be the subject of various decorations. Among these, a common element, widely used and still present on most of the caps, are the bands, or the various rings, whose original purpose was also strictly practical in nature. The edge of the cap is in fact one of the most stressed and subject to the risk of breaking a pen, and the original use of rings and metal bands (see patent nº US-662796) was precisely to reinforce the edge, and only later these have assumed the character of a decorative element.
Historically, the first caps were made with a friction closure (those that are generically defined slip caps), with the cap that fits on the body. There are different variants of this type of choice, depending on the way in which the joint is made; the two main classes are the so-called cone cap (conical section cap) in which the interlocking surface is a truncated cone, and the so-called straight cap (cylindrical section cap) in which the interlocking surface is cylindrical, among the latter there are then the so-called tapered cap (conical or tapered cap) in vogue at the end of the 19th century.
The interlocking caps which suffer, especially in the conical version, from problems of wear on the surfaces with loss of tightness, have been followed, with a trend established since the beginning of the '900, by the caps with screw closure (threaded cap), which are still among the most common today. A return of the interlocking caps took place in the '40s with the introduction of metal caps closed with friction on special rings (trend introduced by the Parker 51).
Verso la fine degli anni '40 è infine iniziata la diffusione dei primi cappucci con chiusura a scatto (una delle prime aziende ad averli utilizzati è stata la Matador con il modello Matador-Click del 1949) divenuti in seguito molto comuni e tutt'ora in ampia diffusione. In questo caso la qualità del meccanismo è essenziale per garantire nel lungo termine il mantenimento della chiusura del cappuccio.
Brevetti correlati
- Brevetto n° US-526428, del 1894-09-25, richiesto il 1894-01-17, di Paul E. Wirt, Wirt. Cappuccio a tenuta.
- Brevetto n° US-604690, del 1898-05-24, richiesto il 1895-08-12, di Lewis E. Waterman, Waterman. Chiusura cappuccio.
- Brevetto n° US-614630, del 1898-11-22, richiesto il 1898-01-28, di William W. Stewart, Swan. Chiusura cappuccio.
- Brevetto n° US-634013, del 1899-10-03, richiesto il 1899-03-13, di Oliver R. Mitchell, Sterling Fountain Pen. Chiusura cappuccio.
- Brevetto n° US-653818, del 1900-07-17, richiesto il 1900-04-09, di George S. Parker, The Parker Pen Company. Cappuccio a frizione.
- Brevetto n° US-655423, del 1900-08-07, richiesto il 1900-03-23, di Henry J. Upton, Sterling Fountain Pen. Costruzione cappuccio.
- Brevetto n° US-662796, del 1900-11-27, richiesto il 1900-09-28, di Samuel Kraus, Eagle. Anellino sul cappuccio.
- Brevetto n° US-680117, del 1901-08-06, richiesto il 1901-05-11, di Claes W. Boman, Eagle. Cappuccio a vite.
- Brevetto n° US-692009, del 1902-01-28, richiesto il 1898-05-16, di Frederick Gilbert, Waterman. Cappuccio di sicurezza.
- Brevetto n° US-698882, del 1902-04-29, richiesto il 1898-05-14, di Lewis E. Waterman, Waterman. Cappuccio conico.
- Brevetto n° US-711988, del 1902-10-28, richiesto il 1902-05-18, di George W. Mabie, Swan. Fondello per cappuccio.
- Brevetto n° US-716489, del 1902-12-23, richiesto il 1902-09-15, di John Slater, Swan. Attacco cappuccio della Ladies Swan Pen.
- Brevetto n° US-742036, del 1903-10-20, richiesto il 1903-07-26, di Edward J. Kastner, Waterman. Cappuccio e sezione.
- Brevetto n° US-764227, del 1904-07-05, richiesto il 1904-04-21, di August Eberstein, Boston Pen. Cappuccio a tenuta.
- Brevetto n° FR-379615, del 1907-11-13, richiesto il 1907-06-19, di Eugen Hahn, August Eberstein, Montblanc. Cappuccio di sicurezza.
- Brevetto n° GB-190713900, del 1908-03-12, richiesto il 1907-06-15, di Eugen Hahn, August Eberstein, Montblanc. Cappuccio di sicurezza.
- Brevetto n° FR-395110, del 1909-02-11, richiesto il 1908-10-09, di Paul E. Wirt, Wirt. Cappuccio di sicurezza.
- Brevetto n° US-950939, del 1910-03-01, richiesto il 1908-06-04, di Clarence E. Martling, Charles Dunn, Dunn. Cappuccio a tenuta.
- Brevetto n° US-978419, del 1910-12-13, richiesto il 1908-10-31, di Paul E. Wirt, Wirt. Cappuccio di sicurezza.
- Brevetto n° US-1028382, del 1912-06-04, richiesto il 1909-07-31, di George S. Parker, The Parker Pen Company. Cappuccio a tenuta.
- Brevetto n° US-1071538, del 1913-08-26, richiesto il 1911-07-27, di Francis W. Vaughn Jr., Vaughn-Upton. Cappuccio a tenuta.
- Brevetto n° US-1075631, del 1913-10-14, richiesto il 1912-11-04, di Harry B. Dods, Diamond Point Pen Company. Cappuccio a tenuta.
- Brevetto n° US-1283860, del 1918-11-05, richiesto il 1918-04-19, di Oliver Mitchell, Moore Pen Company. Cappuccio e fermaglio.
- Brevetto n° US-1326206, del 1919-12-30, richiesto il 1919-05-21, di Charles A. Luck, Conklin Pen Manufacturing Co.. Cappuccio in metallo.
- Brevetto n° US-1365131, del 1921-01-11, richiesto il 1920-03-26, di Henry J. Upton, Moore Pen Company. Cappuccio di sicurezza.
- Brevetto n° US-1514002, del 1924-11-04, richiesto il 1923-04-13, di George M. Kracker, Kraker. Cappuccio.
- Brevetto n° US-1577548, del 1926-03-23, richiesto il 1925-01-12, di Henry J. Upton, Moore Pen Company. Cappuccio decorabile.
- Brevetto n° US-1586541, del 1926-06-01, richiesto il 1922-05-27, di John C. Wahl, Wahl Eversharp. Cappuccio Wahl Engine Turned.
- Brevetto n° US-2076796, del 1937-04-13, richiesto il 1931-08-25, di Gerald L. Bassett et al, Conklin Pen Manufacturing Co.. Cappuccio a stampo.
- Brevetto n° US-2102044, del 1937-12-14, richiesto il 1934-03-31, di Milford G. Sypher, Chilton. Fermaglio e cappuccio Lox-Top.
- Brevetto n° GB-534683, del 1941-03-13, richiesto il 1939-01-06, The Parker Pen Company. Cappuccio Parker 51.
- Brevetto n° US-2274470, del 1942-02-24, richiesto il 1941-02-26, di Farnham F. Boyle, William H. Lindemon, W. A. Sheaffer Pen Company. Cappuccio Crest.
- Brevetto n° US-2278907, del 1942-04-07, richiesto il 1940-07-26, di Marlin S. Baker, The Parker Pen Company. Cappuccio Parker 51.
- Brevetto n° US-2314551, del 1943-03-23, richiesto il 1941-06-16, di Wilbur K. Olson, W. A. Sheaffer Pen Company. Cappuccio e controcappuccio.
- Brevetto n° US-2314563, del 1943-03-23, richiesto il 1942-02-18, di Herman K. Stempel, Robert E. Freeman, W. A. Sheaffer Pen Company. Cappuccio a banda alta.
- Brevetto n° US-2392942, del 1946-01-15, richiesto il 1944-05-20, di Lester W. Ormsby, The Parker Pen Company. Chiusura cappuccio.
- Brevetto n° US-2419483, del 1947-04-22, richiesto il 1945-06-08, di George D. Cloutier, Wahl Eversharp. Cappuccio Fifth Avenue.
- Brevetto n° FR-921485, del 1947-05-08, richiesto il 1945-11-17, di Lucien Claret, Météore - La Plume d'Or. Chiusura cappuccio.
- Brevetto n° GB-619349, del 1949-03-08, richiesto il 1946-12-04, di Mark Sydney Finburgh, Wyvern Fountain Pen Company. Costruzione cappuccio.
- Brevetto n° US-2509234, del 1950-05-30, richiesto il 1945-12-28, di David Kahn, Wearever. Montaggio cappuccio.
- Brevetto n° US-2533082, del 1950-12-05, richiesto il 1948-06-18, di Marlin S. Baker, Robert W. Randolph, The Parker Pen Company. Costruzione cappuccio.
- Brevetto n° DE-804767, del 1951-04-30, richiesto il 1949-10-22, di Heinrich Schwarting et al, Montblanc. Costruzione cappuccio.
- Brevetto n° DE-829714, del 1952-01-28, richiesto il 1950-05-20, di Christoph Kunkel, Uhu. Cappuccio.
- Brevetto n° DE-1673570U, del 1954-03-18, richiesto il 1952-11-06, Montblanc. Costruzione cappuccio.
- Brevetto n° DE-933553, del 1955-09-29, richiesto il 1953-03-26, di Heinrich Schwarting et al, Montblanc. Costruzione cappuccio.
- Brevetto n° US-2782762, del 1957-02-26, richiesto il 1955-09-07, di Donald H. Young, Waterman. Cappuccio a scatto.